There has been increasing number of islands being developed around the world. For example, there are more getaway resorts or residences being built to cater to the increasing demand for such facilities. In addition, there are more island land being reclaimed to increase the land supply around popular destinations. Besides residential and leisure purposes, some important installations, e.g. refineries, are also being housed or constructed on islands for utilities and defense purposes.
These offshore properties, e.g. islands, ships, platforms, houses on stilts, have frequently been targets of criminal activities, e.g. looting, robbery, by aggressors like pirates. In addition, accidents, e.g. fire, may happen to the offshore properties.
Security of offshore properties have been challenging to maintain due to geographical barriers, e.g. water, between the mainland and the offshore properties. Essentially, the proximity between offshore properties and security outposts, e.g. police stations, fire stations, is much further than the distance between properties and the outpost on mainland. Therefore, the time required to reach offshore properties may be longer than that to reach a mainland property should an alarm be raised by the occupants of the offshore properties. Although government agencies may deploy security forces, e.g. coastal guards, to patrol the waterways for intruders, the security protection offered by the security forces may not be sufficient for privately owned offshore properties. These security forces are unable to provide sufficient security monitoring to each and every offshore properties given the size of the security forces versus the number of offshore properties and vast area of coverage. Consequently, the security of the offshore properties are more likely to be compromised. As such, it is the responsibility of owners or developers of the privately owned offshore properties to provide sufficient security protection.
In order to provide offshore properties the same level of security as that of the mainland properties, a substantial amount of resources has to be invested on the offshore properties. For example, in order for properties on an island to have a sizable security force, a substantial amount of resources, e.g. financial resources, have to be put in to hire the relevant manpower and built the necessary infrastructure. As such, the amount of resources required in achieving a sufficient level of security may be too onerous for some offshore property owners. Conversely, with limited resources, the offshore properties frequently lack sufficient security protection.
The present invention aims to improve the situation mentioned above.